Dracula: Hearts of Fire (Dracula Heart's) (27 page)

             
CHAPTER
THIRTY
             

    A
NNIE
WAS
WAITING
FOR THE BUS
on 8
^th
Avenue
;
she had sensed something untoward in the gentleman with the expensive looking briefcase and pinstripe grey suit; he
also
wore a white shirt but
no tie.
This being a vampire thing was new to her a
nd she was enjoying it. It was going
to
take
a while to get accustomed to,
but it was a huge step up from her prior condition.
No
more pain and no more struggling
for
breath.
Every single day she had felt as if she was drowning, every morning she felt cheated when her eyes opened to start another day.
It was as if the sun had finally come up a
nd she could enjoy life’s beauty
once again.
When her heart beat for the first time as a vampire it frightened her. She
thought that a vampire had no heartbeat whatsoever, but discovered that it did beat occasionally. She had Googled it.

    Annie was tiny and fragile looking with silver hair and blue eyes. Some of her wrinkles had tightened during the transformation but unfortunately she still looked old. She thought that her vim and vinegar could power the entire city, and the fact was that she could lift that bus over her head had she wanted to do so. Being turned by the Master certainly had bonus points. Some nights she went out with her red purse displayed prominently, hoping to attract a mugger; she
hadn’t yet succeeded but she
thought that sooner or later she would bag one. In her mind it was time for the people to take back the streets. Annie would fight anyone that was taking advantage of another.

   
Why Annie suspected that the f
ellow who
resembled a banker was up to no good she had
no idea. It was like a hunch
but a lot stronger. She felt like attacking him even before he got on the bus, the feeling
was that strong. The
vampire took note of all the different people getting on the bus; she hoped that some of them weren’t in the process of taking their last breaths
because of that bozo in front of her.
Annie was new at this game and wasn’t at all sure how a fight would play out.
A baker’s dozen entered the bus, including Annie. She sat behind Elmer in his fancy suit and kept a close eye on him.
She wondered what he had in his briefcase. Annie watched and waited, she could feel him tensing as he looked around, probably searching for a suitable victim.
A 4-year-old girl played with her Barbie at the back of the bus; she could detect how happy she was. The calm mood on the bus was about to change drastically.

   
It didn’t take long
after the bus pulled out
before his fangs came out and he attacked the beautiful young blond in front of him.
Elmer was exceptionally fast as his fangs went for the young woman’s neck to drink her blood, but Annie was faster. She punched him and knock
ed his fangs out even before he
got to her neck, sending blood flying.
His fangs grew back immediately
but he was surprised
he hadn’t sensed another vampire.
T
he bus screeched to a halt and
erupted in screams.

    “What the heck is going on back there?” screamed the bus driver.

   
Every one feared for their lives.
Vampires were on the bus!
Annie
grabbed Elmer by the seat of his pants and the scruff of his neck, tossing
Elmer out through the
window;
she
then
went out
after him.
She figured everyone
on the bus was scared enough so she had to
get him out of there.
It would be a lot easier to fight outside where there was more room.

    “What are you gonna do now?” said Annie. It was a bit of a humorous scene with the 90-year-old preparing for battle with the
vampire that looked to be thirty
something.
She beckoned him towards her with slight movements of the fingers on her right hand. He couldn’t help but smile.

 
  “Death is coming for you.
”

    Elmer couldn’t mind her; he
couldn’t even read her aura. She made h
im more than a little nervous because he figured
there must be powerful magic involved.
Attempting to blur off
rather than be the subject of perusal of all those faces on the bus
,
he found his way blocked each time.
He was scared
that if he remained too long a red sheriff could show up.
Annie being at least twice as fast as he was,
Elmer knew then and there he would have to fight the old woman. He pulled
a machete out
of his briefcase
and tried to cut he
r head off, but she was so fast
that she ended up behind him kicking
him in the butt
, driving him up and over the bus
, catching his knees on the roof as he went over
.

    Elmer screamed his loudest. “
You die now
you crazy bitch
!
”

   “I
don’t think so
.”

    Everyone on the bus watched the battle and cheered for the old woman, and because of that he showed them all his fangs as a threat.
He attacked her four times with punches and kicks that would have killed a human,
looking for the best opportunity to take her head
but she simply deflected them. He tried his best to punch her in her little old face; the result was that she broke
his arm at the elbow. It healed but it was painful.
Elmer swung the machete viciously and each time it arrived into empty space.

  
There were now sirens in the distance.

   
The more she effortlessly dodged his attempts to kill her, the angrier he was getting.
Elmer
attacked
Annie like a maniac, screaming and swinging. But on the third sw
ing he discovered that his machete
was gone and she
was holding it.
His look of disdain was a complement to Annie.

 
  “That’s impossible.
”

    Annie cut Elmer
’s head off
as his bones fell to the pavement
,
almost everyone on the bus cheered
for the old woman. She took a bow, kicked the bones across the street,
and then
blurred off.

    “Wish that was my grandmother.”

CHAPTER
THIRTY
-ONE

    JENNY SAT ON A FELLED TREE
that was
covered in green moss and stared at the red bricks of the quaint cottage.
She k
new that Jeptha was in there;
she also knew that she HAD to get in there but for the time being at least she couldn’t find a way into the small dwelling. She looked up into the sky and noticed tha
t black clouds were forming above her, and
they definitel
y weren’t normal. They moved unnaturally
fast, faster than she had ever experienced. It didn’t take her long to figure that the wizard within was up to something. Suddenly it started pouring. It couldn’t rain any harder and Jenny was almost instantly soaked.
The sound of the rain roared all around her
as
she imagined the smile on his face.

    “Are you g
etting wet out there girl
?” Jeptha’s voice sounded like he was talking through a tube
. “All your talent and you can’t stop a little rain?” He laughed until he coughed.

    “No one ever taught
me how to stop the rain, you arrogant ass!
If it’s
even possible.
I know it’s a spell
so I suppose
it can be stopped.
” Jenny considered that Jeptha might in fact be Caius, but if so he wasn’t much of an instructor so far. He was either the wizard
she sought or one of his followers
.
The sound of the rain was now drowning out his voice,
she didn’t think that it was possible to r
ain any harder but she was wrong
.
It was making her miserable.
Jenny
linked with
his mind but didn’t go in too far. She actually put up extra walls for security and Jeptha was impressed although he didn’t let her know that.